If you’ve ever looked into swapping houses with someone for a vacation, you know that there are hundreds of websites specializing in this economical (if risky) way to travel. I’ve swapped once, and was happy with the arrangement (especially discovering M in the CD collection of the women whose apartment I stayed in). I am […]

I am not really up to date on the problem between the Kurds and the Turks, but just as I was walking by the Trocadero on Saturday I stumbled upon a Kurd demonstration. I then learned, by reading one of their leaflets, that they were mad at France for arresting several members of the Kurdish […]

I nearly stepped in a pile of cadeau de caniche on my way to work the other morning when my wandering eyes settled on a poster advertising the upcoming grandma pageant. “Work can wait,” I thought to myself while booting up my ordi, immediately embarking on a net search of this intriguing concours.
Two minutes […]

At 1 am last night, firetrucks screamed down the Rue Daguerre in the 14th. One after another after another. It woke me up: I looked out my window and saw flames lashing away at the sky. I was never a fire engine chaser, but this was my neighborhood, so I made my way in the […]

Most Oscar-nominated stars have hunkered down in Los Angeles, preparing for this Sunday’s Academy Awards. There are gifting suites to visit and injections to be shot up with. But not for Clint Eastwood. The Letters from Iwo Jima director was in Paris recently, and Frog with a Blog published some great pictures of him.

I went to see the Rufus Wainwright: Dedicated to Judy Garland Concert at the Olympia last night. I had been eagerly awaiting this night, as reviews and word of mouth from the New York concert had been glorious.
As I entered the long hallway entrance to the theater, I realized I had never been to the […]

I’m always sincerely disappointed when each year I somehow end up missing the Salon International de l’Agriculture - it’s widely considered to be a lieu hot (that’s hot with a capital O) for foodies, gourmands, cordons bleus, and people who just plain eat, quoi. This year, however, the aggie campaigners have done a fantastic publicity […]

I am at the kiosk, buying two magazines (for research purposes, mind you) today. It’s sunny, unseasonably warm, and people are (gasp) smiling at one another for NO REASON AT ALL. The kiosk worker, obviously enjoying his work much more now that the sun has come out, says an enthusiastic “4,99″ as I simultaneaously plop […]

The Paris métro is undoubtedly one of the best urban transportation systems in the world. Except for the infrequent grève or someone moshing below the platforms, it carries over five million people daily (as reported by the BBC in 1998) with remarked regularity. […]
What has intrigued me the most over time, however, are the ‘ghost […]

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Photo by JordyB. JordyB on Flickr.